An elder's home influences more people than his pulpit. "Far more powerful than any sermon that can be preached is the influence of a true home upon human hearts and lives." ─The Ministry of Healing, p. 352. That is why Satan tempts the father to neglect his home. He tries to keep the parent so busy with all kinds of activities that he has no time for his own family. This is one of the reasons why some good elders bring in very little, while less talented ones sometimes have a rich harvest of souls. A good family is of inestimable value to the elder.
One day a very fine young man from the college came to my office and stated that he needed some professional counsel. When he introduced himself I recognized a well-known name among us and inquired whether he was related to that person.
"Yes," he replied, "he is my father."
"Oh," I answered, "he is a wonderful man. He is a real pillar in the church."
"He must be a wonderful man," he mused sadly. "I read about him in the Adventist Review."
That interview of more than an hour revealed that the heart of this young man was yearning for a father far more than for any professional advice. He might as well have been an orphan so far as his father was concerned. At that time his father was visiting some of the churches in Europe and would not be home for several weeks. And when he was home he was not at home. He was at the office on weekdays and in the pulpit on Sabbaths. His son knew him best through the columns of the Adventist Review'?
Could it be that some elders, who have won many souls to Christ, will be forced to lament, "They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept?"
Archa O. Dart was Assistant Secretary for Home and Parent Education of General Conference when this article was written.
